Legionella Risk Assessment in Scotland £12.95
The Health and Safety Executive state that if you rent out property in Scotland you must undertake a Legionella Risk Assessment to protect yourself legally. You also have a duty to your tenant to ensure that you have considered the risk of legionella forming in the water system of the property you rent to them.
There are 2 options available to Landlords in Scotland who are renting out a domestic property. These are clearly stated by the HSE website. Here at The Legionella Risk Assessment Registers we are focused on delivering the correct options to landlords. These are :
1. You can undertake the Legionella Risk Assessment yourself as long as you feel competent to do so, here at LRA Register we provide a clear step by step guide which gives you all the information you need to produce your own Legionella Risk Assessment for your tenant. Once you have followed the step by step guide you simply input the information gathered from your property into the online assessment software and your completed assessment is created and delivered to you by email instantly. The cost for this service is £12.95.
2. You can appoint an independent Legionella Risk Assessor to undertake the assessment for you. There are many reasons why a landlord may not wish to do their own assessment. If the property is a fair distance away it may be more financially viable to use a local independent assessor, maybe you have issues with your tenant and you do not wish to visit the property or it could be that you just prefer to have an independent assessment. In this case please see www.lraregister.com where you can find a local assessor who will undertake your assessment at a reasonable cost.
There are many rental properties in the Scotland area that have not had a Legionella Risk Assessment undertaken and these landlords are leaving themselves liable to large fines for non compliance.
Don't be one of those Scotland Landlords that ignore their responsibilities. Produce your Legionella Risk Assessment today and it will be officially lodged on our register for download at any time. If asked, you can then direct anyone to LRA Register to see the assessment is completed and lodged.
If you wish to undertake your own assessment then please read our step by step guide to completing your Legionella Risk Assessment.
The House of Commons issued a briefing paper to clarify the legal requirements for landlords with regards to Legionella Risk Assessments.
This gives specific clarification that all landlords operating rental properties must undertake a Legionella Risk Assessment on each rental property they own.
Whilst many Scotland landlords understandably do not agree with this regulation the fact remains it is legally required.
Landlord Legionella Risk Assessment Guide
The step by step guide provided at LRA Register provides enough information to enable a landlord comply with the requirement in a few easy steps.
The system lodges the report on a central register with the date and time stamp of when the report was done and when it was lodged clearly recorded. If there is any issue later on it can be proven when the report was lodged.
The purpose of a Legionella Risk Assessment for your rental properties is to ensure that you have taken sufficient note of the possibility of Legionella in your water system and to give practical advice to your tenants, which will be contained in our prepopulated risk assessment template.
If a tenant were to become ill with Legionella and a risk assessment has not been carried out the Health and Safety Executive would take legal action against the landlord or agent.
Landlords in Scotland have reported fees of up to £125 being charged for an outside contractor to do the assessment whilst the Health and Safety Executive have made it clear that: “Provided that the property is low risk (which includes most residential settings including houses or flats with small domestic type water systems where the water turnover is high) there is no reason why the landlord should not carry out the risk assessment themselves, provided that they are adequately knowledgeable about the water system in the property”.
If you prefer to have an assessor do the risk assessment for you please visit lraregister.com where you will find our directory of Legionella Risk Assessors who will conduct your assessment in Scotland at a fair price.
Legionella Risk Assessments in Scotland are a legal Requirement for all Landlords.
The law and you.
The law is clear that if you are a landlord and rent out your property in Scotland (or even a room within your own home) then you have legal responsibilities to ensure the health and safety of your tenant by keeping the property safe and free from health hazards.
Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA) makes provision for relevant health and safety legislation to apply to landlords to ensure a duty of care is shown to their tenants’ with regard to their health and safety. The general duties require under section 3(2) that "It shall be the duty of every self-employed person to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that he and other persons (not being his employees) who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.". Landlords, under Section 53 of HSWA are regarded as being self-employed and tenants fall into the class of “other persons (not being his employees)”. If you rent out a property, you have legal responsibilities to ensure you conduct your undertaking in such a way that your tenant(s) are not exposed to health and safety risks.
If a tenant were to contract Legionnaires’ disease from the water system in their home, the landlord may be liable to prosecution under HSWA, and would have to demonstrate to a court that they had fulfilled their legal duty, so it is important that they assess and control the risks.
Information for Private Landlords in Scotland from www.gov.scot
D.28 Private landlords have a duty to carry out a risk assessment of hot and cold water systems for legionnaire's disease to minimise the risk of tenants being exposed to legionella. This requirement stems from the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1989 and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, which makes provision for the legislation to apply to landlords of domestic premises.
D.29 All water systems must be assessed for legionella risk, and private landlords must ensure this is carried out before the property is first let. The risk assessment should then be regularly reviewed at intervals of no more than two years. If a review of the risk assessment indicates that there has been a change to the risk factors then a new risk assessment should be carried out. Depending on the system in the property, private landlords may be able to carry this assessment out themselves, or it might be necessary to employ a competent assessor to do it.
D.30 In most residential settings, a simple assessment may show that the risks are low and no further action may be necessary. An example of a typical lower risk situation may be found in a house where:
daily water usage is inevitable and sufficient to turn over the entire system;
cold water is directly from a wholesome mains supply (no stored water tanks);
hot water is fed from instantaneous heaters or low volume water heaters (supplying outlets at 50 °C); and
where the only outlets are toilets and wash hand basins.
D.31 If the assessment shows the risks are low and are being properly managed, the private landlord need take no further action but it is important that the assessment is reviewed regularly in case anything changes in the system.
D.32 To help control the risk of exposure to legionella landlords must:
Flush out the system prior to letting the property, if this has not been done within the previous two years;
Avoid debris getting into the system by ensuring the cold water tanks, where fitted, have a tight fitting lid;
Set control parameters where water is stored in the hot water tank at least 60°C; and
Make sure any redundant pipework and dead ends are identified and removed.
D.33 Private landlords must advise tenants of control measures put in place and of their responsibility to help ensure they are maintained. Tenants must be advised:
Not to adjust the temperature setting of the hot water tank;
To regularly clean and disinfect showerheads; and
Inform the landlord if the hot water is not heating properly or if there are any other problems with the system.
D.34 In situations where a privately let property is vacant for an extended period, steps must be taken to ensure water is not allowed to stagnate within the water system, by a suitable flushing regime or other measures such as draining the system.
click here to produce your Legionella Risk Assessment.